The all-new 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 1500 pickups are poised to launch next month. And the financial analysts from The Motley Fool think its time for Ford to start worrying. Admittedly, the K2XX trucks bear a lot of resemblances to the GMT900 trucks they’re replacing, on the outside. But it’s the stuff you can’t initially see that is the most impressive.
GM publicized its fuel economy and tow ratings for the 2014 Silverado and Sierra trucks equipped with the mid-range 5.3L V8 engine, and both specs claim superiority over Ford’s popular EcoBoost V6 engine in the F-150. These initial specs are enough to get the guys from MF excited. But it’s perhaps GM’s strengthening portfolio overall that has them swayed that the automaker just isn’t messing around anymore, and the entire industry should be on their guard for what the company does next.
Comments
Since they failed to package the truck in a body that was dramatically as different as the bits that make it up, it will be up to a proper marketing job to get people to really check them out and not underestimate the change.
At the Auto Show the new truck did not have much draw. the Impala has much more interest than the trucks. I did see more looking a the GMC vs. the Chevy.
I really thing many just overlooked the Chevy as it did not really stand out from the other older trucks. The one they had on display was nice but not a lot of wow factor. The GMC was loaded up and the wheel really did set it apart.
I want the Silverado and Sierra succeed, I know there are more surprises coming. I just don’t want them span it out to the whole life of the truck. Ford’s next trucks are going to be a lot lighter, and an updated Ecoboost. Ram already has an 8 speed and about to have a diesel on the way, their coming out swinging. I like what GM did with the new 5.3, I think the engineers did a great job with all the work they put into it I know it’s going to be dependable. I think the 8-speeds are coming out the following year, and I like to see what’s instore for a diesel, hopefully it’s an updated 4.5L. And also have the e-assist in the trucks would be nice with an 8 speed, have the start-stop tech like the new Malibu. I like to see them be on top again and be competitive in every aspect..
An e-Assist 5.3L with 3.73 gears would fit my needs perfectly.
Question: Did GM change to the standard hinged doors on the “extended” cab for the crash tests ? I love the large opening and nearly 180 degree hing of my last two extended cabs and will miss that greatly. That and the 8′ extended cab bed.
For passengers entering or exiting the rear seats of Extended Cabs was difficult, particularly in tight parking lots. With the new truck (renamed Double Cab) entry/exit is much easier.
I guess I don’t park enough in close quarters to have had serious problems, but then I don’t buy trucks to carry people that often and on that, I will deal.
The tougher question for me is whether access to the space back there is restricted by the door. I certainly use the space for cargo.
(inserting tongue in cheek)
Of course, since so many say the new trucks are almost exactly the same as the previous generation, maybe I’ll just keep my ’11….
Any car with suicide doors can be a real pain in the ass for both front and rear passengers wanting to get out at the same time. Double Cad is something that has been needed for a long time. Absolutely everytime someone I know is wanting a truck I tell them to stay clear of ex-cab if they ever plan on having people in the back, and just go for the crew. One friend bought an extended cab 2005 Silverado and can’t stand having to open both doors to get his gear/tools out of the back seat while at the same time have the ext-door rest on his back so it wont swing and hit a car beside him
To have so many new good products that some of them get overlooked at auto shows is a good thing in my mind. If I am at the show to see the Corvette and Z/28, I am not going to show much interest in say, the Cruze or Lacross. With fuel prices going the way they are (yes, our government could be doing more) every mpg counts, but I think the average buyer is looking at smaller vehicles now a days!
I don’t really pay overly close attention to Ford news, most of it is just about how Lincoln is one ugly disappointment after another.. But I do know the next gen F150 set to debut next year as a 2015MY.
Rumours are that the next F150 will be far lighter than anything available now (700lbs light than the current F150), which is safe to say it will be light than these new twins. And if it looks anything like the Atlas conept it is going to look good, and be the first Ferd truck I like the look of.
It is supposedly getting a new/tweaked out EcoBoost, so expect more power and better fuel efficiency, higher towing specs, etc. Apparently a smaller EcoBoost (300-320hp) will be under the hood as well.
And it be out fitted with a ton of tech and aero components.
Lincoln can’t compare to Cadillac, they can hardly hang out with Buick. But what FoMoCo doesn’t let slide is the Mustang and F150. GM might steal sales from Nissan, Dodge, and Toyota, but I don’t think Ford’s F150 sales will slip much because of GM new trucks.
What I don’t understand is why everyone is so negative against these trucks? The styling hasn’t changed much? So what! No one expected the styling to change a ton. Did the 09 F-150 change a whole lot from the 08? Not really. These trucks are more updated than they were when they came out with the 900 in 2007. GM just needs to keep updating them. I’m talking 8-Speed trannys and the 4.5 Duramax or an eAssist 5.3 liter.
The hype around these trucks is like the Emperor’s New Clothes. Nothing of substance whatsoever. The styling is a huge problem, but what’s so great about what’s under those “clothes”. A tailgate with struts (or whatever the heck that’s supposed to be)? Nobody wants to admit that these things are duds and that millions of dollars have gone down the drain. “Fresh” and “bold” styling my ass. A poor attempt at rhetorical manipulation. No matter how they slice this thing to me I don’t like them and I never will.
@ Andrew: This comment is not a judgement – but a query to get into the mind of a
potential truck buyer.
Hey Andrew, what attracts you to the Atlas Concept? The truck is as square as a box –
which means very bad aero cd.. GM, Ford and Ram go with grille shutters to somehow
sluff off air that otherwise would suck into those gigantuan grilles and be buffered about
inside the engine bay and rolled and tossed under the truck creating mileage-sapping
turbulence. Thing is – there’s only so much you can do when the wind is still facing
a verticle shutter the size of my sideyard fence!
Manufacturers are keyed into your mindset. Guys think a big, tall , huge square truck
with a grille that resembles a Transformer or Kenworth truck is manly and macho.
This is what sells trucks. Not capability – because true capability would mean the
most efficient truck on a gallon of fuel…But an image the truck “projects” or
more honestly, the percieved image.
So is it that the truck appears “bad ass” or tough? Because truly, Ford will
continue to outsell GM in trucks because GM’s redesign looks so much like the
last gen truck.
What, in your opinion, will it take to re-wire American males to buy a truck with
a rounded nose and perhaps an adjustable suspension that lowers the frontal
area and increases gas mileage?
That is exactly it, when you look at a Ferrari you expect to see sexy Italian curves, and when you look at a truck it projects the image that “I’m tough”. Would people buy a car that looks like a Camry? Probably not because it looks like it would fall apart as soon as you thrown a yard of topsoil in the bed. Trucks need to be tough and do tough jobs, they should also look like they are capable of doing those jobs and withstand the abuse.
Manufacturers know what sells trucks, and trucks are the bread winner so they are sticking with it. It isn’t the manufacturer keyed into this mindset, it is the consumer, and manufacturers are providing. They are slowly changing this, but GM can’t just drop a truck on people that is capable of hypermiling, GM would find themselves competing less with F150 sales numbers and more with the Ridgeline.
The active-aero grille shutters close at highway speeds (and on cold starts in winter climates) stopping air from entering the engine bay which would otherwise create positive turbulent air and build pressure in front of the vehicle, the more pressure in front of the vehicle the more force it takes to push through the air. The hood extractor on the ZL1, and C7, as well as the 2014 SS and Z/28 are extracting this air. The new Impala has grill shutters as well. The shutters/louvers close at high speed pushing the air around the vehicle.
How air flows off the rear of a vehicle is almost important as the air hitting it face on. Wind tunnel engineers are trying to create laminar flow around the vehicle (rapid turbulence is created at the surface of anything with a fluid flowing past it, and will transition into a more uniform, smooth, laminar flow as it moves outward form the surface). Trucks can be shaped like a brick, but if they can be smooth bricks they can still net some aero advantage (like the fins on the roof of the ‘Rado/Sierra Eco/Hybrid and under-body paneling). I’m not an expert, but those fins on the roof are likely intended to slice the air and organize it into a more uniform flow pattern/direction.
Also, the faster you try to push through the air, drag and pressure is increased exponentially.
I don’t know if this is best analogy, but imagine slowing moving your open hand (flat and ‘brick’ shaped) through water over a span of 1 meter, it is relatively easy to do and the water is mostly undisturbed behind your hand. Now double the speed over the same 1 meter distance, it get’s harder because you are displacing the same amount of fluid over the same distance just at a higher velocity. Now try doing it as fast as you can over the same 1 meter, your hand stability in the water will want to pull one way or the other and a vortex of air is created behind your hand (I believe due to cavitation), this air pocket is pulling back on your hand (drag).
So there is another reason to drop your cruise control from 75-65mph.
What will it take to re-write the notion that a truck should resemble a freight train? I think the next Colorado and Canyon are making this move. Give the responsibility to a less important vehicle then start to influence the larger brother with similar design attributes.
Correction: 3rd line line – “Would people buy a car that looks like a Camry? ” should read: “Would people buy a TRCUK that looks like a Camry?”
@ Andrew.
I appreciate your answer – but can give you a rather logical
answer.
You cannot get any tougher and macho than a semi-truck
tractor-trailer rig.
The top manufacturers of those rigs spend tens of millions
of dollars streamlining them to get better MPG. Gone are
the days of the big square grille. Kenworth, Peterbilt, Volvo
and MAN all develop their new designs to lessen the size
of their grilles as much as possible being that the powerplants
beneath their hoods are massive and powerful. Look how
smooth, tapered and rounded they have become! Air dams
atop the cab smooth the air over the tractor-trailer, gas tanks
are covered and not external anymore. Litereally everything
facing the front is canted, smoothed and smaller. This
doesn’t mean the trucking company that buys the rig, nor
the driver who drives it isn’t tough…It just points out that
commercial truck buyers are smarter, savvy’er and more
cost-conscious than ever. It’s about making a profit and spending
less on fossil fuels.
The main purpose of a Ferrari, Porsche or Corvette’s swoopy
nose is not a sexy, sporty look – but a faster, more efficient
slip through the air. Function in those cases – does also equal
form and eye-appeal since that’s how our brains have been
programmed over time – look at racecars – macho and good
looking both.
So when will American males begin to associate rounded forms
and aero with “smart+tough+good”? Who knows? Why
start with the small truck and then work it’s way forward/upward?
Just make an efficient truck – add design cues from big rigs,
and “wala!” you have a winner!
Interesting studies have been done with small verticle vents
that blow puffs of air from rounded ( not square ) corners off
of semi trailers. They’ve found that “vortex generators” such
as the little stick-on ones you can buy online for your van or
truck canopy have little effect – perhaps just a small disruption
of air vaccume effect which collects behind large square
vehicles which create a vaccume behind them. The vents
and contours actually break down that low pressure zone
that causes drag and literally pulls at the vehicle like a
large hand – making them less efficient.
There are many tricks yet to be implemented on mass-market
trucks to make them more efficient. I think now’s the time
to start.